MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS 2019: 5 TOPICS THAT EVERYONE WILL TALK ABOUT

It’s time to prepare for the Mobile World Congress (or MWC), which is the biggest event in the mobile world that takes place in Barcelona – and our team can’t wait to go.

The event breathes innovation; it’s the place to demonstrate every leading company’s cutting-edge technology – and there are going to be more than 2,400 of such companies.

If you’re not quite sure what to expect, we’ve put together a list of the top 5 hot topics that we can’t wait to explore at MWC 2019:

1. New Mobile Phones at MWC 2019

Mobile World Congress holds a lot of promise for mobile marketers since it’s the perfect place to get a glimpse at brand-new and shiny mobile devices.

Both LG and Huawei have confirmed they will be launching 5G phones at MWC 2019. We were expecting the Samsung Galaxy S10 to be announced at MWC 2019, but the company has confirmed that the phone will come out a week earlier on February 20. That doesn’t mean there won’t be anything on show from Samsung, though. There’s a chance we’ll get a closer look at Samsung’s foldable phone.

Other industry players are also planning to woo the crowd with their mobile devices. Take Sony, for instance. We can’t wait to welcome it’s Xperia XZ4 flagship phone, which might turn out to be a worthy opponent to Samsung’s Galaxy S10.

2. Emerging Markets are Driving the Fintech Revolution

Money transfers, payments, savings, investments, insurance – you name it – emerging markets seem to be very eager to use Fintech. After all, in the emerging markets FinTech has a bigger purpose: It’s not just about being able to buy different products; it’s about ensuring people who may have never stepped foot into a bank enjoy financial services – be it online payments, trading, investments, robo-advisors or mortgages – that’s why they call it ‘Inclusive FinTech.’ The difference in Fintech adoption between the emerging markets and their developed counterparts is clear: 69 and 52% adoption rate in China and India, respectively, versus 33 and 18% in the U.S. and Canada, for instance.

MWC 2019 will be the place to discuss this industry’s growth, with more finance app developers from the emerging markets attending the big event.

3. Advertising Opportunities Beyond Social Media

With more than 80 million businesses on Facebook, advertising on the social network, no matter how alluring and great, can get competitive, which means CPC costs can get quite high.

MWC 2019 will be the perfect ground to find new advertising opportunities that promise scale. We are expecting for MWC 2019 to shake the beliefs of many advertisers and business owners about social media advertising being the only advertising channel that fits their marketing strategy.

Some hot topics to discuss at MWC 2019 will be direct media buying, premium SDKs, and direct publishers. Think of MWC 2019 as a fantastic opportunity to look at your marketing strategy in a new light, discovering new ways to promote and grow your business. You can always talk to our expert app promotion team – schedule a meeting.

4. On-Demand Apps are Here to Stay

We have very high hopes for on-demand mobile apps. What started with ride-sharing apps has now spread into other verticals like food delivery, transportation, healthcare, automobiles, and electronic equipment.

From a business perspective, on-demand apps business models (take Uber, Airbnb, for example) along with the market that the on-demand industry has occupied appear to be very lucrative for investors, which has brought a boost in the funding of on-demand startups in the recent years. In 2017 alone, the on-demand mobile app sector attracted more than $10B in investments.

Research shows that at least 42% of adults have used at least one on-demand service installed on their phones – so, it’s no surprise that the on-demand app economy is seeing a rise in revenues.

If you are planning to come to MWC 2019, it’s best to come prepared to see many on-demand mobile app developers and be ready with questions to make sure you forge new, lucrative partnerships.

5. Looking Forward to Wearable Devices & IoT

MWC 2018 wasn’t packed with wearable devices so much. Industry players note that it was mostly about VR. We keep our fingers crossed for Mobile World Congress 2019 to be an entirely different story.

Currently, the wearables industry, which takes root in IoT (a.k.a. the Internet of Things), is dominated by smartwatches – but we’re hoping for more. We’re talking about fitness bands, movement trackers, and so on.

MWC 2019 could be the perfect opportunity to see what HTC has in store when it comes to wearables. HTC’s CEO, Cher Wang, will host a keynote at the event, discussing “Vive Reality” – a term that refers to “interconnecting technologies like VR, AR, 5G, and AI.” It will be interesting to see whether MWC 2019 will be the place where HTC will be able to realize HTC’s vision. That is, to create an ecosystem in which your mobile phone and your VR/AR headset are interconnected, and your phone can let you know when you receive new messages, etc.

There’s more to expect from MWC 2019. Think flexible phone is the end of it? Try flexible wearables. There’s talk about flexible fitness trackers appearing at MWC 2019 with a movement-sensitive LED display.

What do you expect for Mobile World Congress to bring to the table this year? Contact our team to set up a meeting so we can have a more in-depth conversation about that.